Editorial: Everything old is new again in New York budget

THE ISSUE Gov. David Paterson and the state’s legislative leaders have announced agreement on a state budget.

OUR VIEW We thought the “Three Men in a Room” way of doing business in Albany was a thing of the past. We thought wrong.

When David Paterson took over as New York’s governor a little more than a year ago, he was characterized as a soft-spoken, knowledgeable politician who would be far less combative and more of a consensus-builder than his predecessor, Eliot Spitzer.

Paterson’s tenure did start off that way. He said all the right things in the days following Spitzer’s fall from grace. Legally blind, he displayed a self-deprecating sense of humor when talking about his impairment in press conferences and speeches. He spoke at length — offering substance and nuance — in memorized speeches. And he got a lengthy standing ovation from his colleagues in the state Legislature at his swearing-in ceremony, although it was arguably more for his congeniality and the departure of his predecessor than for his accomplishments as a state senator and lieutenant governor before taking the state’s reins.

Today, he has an approval rating that is almost unheard-of for a politician not embroiled in a scandal — 19 percent. Between that and the way he handled the state’s budget negotiations, one wonders if he plans on running for re-election next year. And if so, what chance does he have of winning?

Many of Paterson’s suggestions for dealing with the fiscal mess — nearly 100 new or increased taxes and fees — came under fire from state lawmakers, with some of them lampooned as just plain silly. An 18 percent tax on non-diet drinks — dubbed the “Obesity Tax” — and the “iPod tax” on the sale of downloaded music and other digitally delivered entertainment services were among the most harshly criticized. He also proposed taxes on such items as movie tickets, taxi rides and massages.

Although he later scrapped some of those ideas, others — including higher taxes on beer and wine — made their way into the state budget, which Paterson and fellow Democrats Sheldon Silver, Assembly speaker, and Malcolm Smith, Senate majority leader, agreed on over the weekend. The $131.8 billion spending plan is a nearly 9 percent increase over the current budget, and it has many state lawmakers — generally Republicans — seeing red.

“Ridiculous. Absurd. An insult to the taxpayers,” said Assemblyman Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua.

“This is the worst budget I have seen in my time in the state Assembly. It is the most arrogant budget that I’ve ever seen, especially during the financial times we’re in right now.”

There’s also the manner in which the budget was hammered out. It was largely decided in secretive sessions among the three leaders, harking back to the days of the “Three Men in a Room” way of doing business during the George Pataki era.

The spending plan will likely be approved — along party lines — through a series of bills this week, although billionaire businessman Tom Golisano has promised to bankroll any state legislator, via his “Reform New York” campaign, who rejects the budget. He will undoubtedly have more than a few takers.

In fairness, Paterson can’t be solely blamed for the economic crisis the state is going through. The recession has meant a smaller revenue stream for every state in the nation, and many are dealing with massive shortfalls.

But what Paterson can be faulted for is plugging the budget gap with myriad taxes and fees, and federal stimulus money, and doing it with little or no input from the rank-and-file legislators he promised to work with.